The Broadway actor died in July 2020 from COVID-related complications.
Amanda Kloots is opening up about how her son is dealing with the death of his father.
While appearing as a speaker at End Well’s annual symposium on Thursday, The Talk co-host, 41,
shared with Yvette Nicole Brown that 4-year-old Elvis Eduardo has begun to ask more questions about her husband Nick Cordero’s death.
Kloots and Cordero married in 2017 and welcomed Elvis in 2019 before his death in July 2020 from COVID-related complications.
“My son is four years old now, and he’s sort of trying to now understand what happened to his dad and that he doesn’t have a dad,” she explained. “For some reason, he always brings it up on the way to preschool, and I drop him off and have to go right to work.”
The television personality said that dealing with him bringing up what happened to his dad is “so hard some days because some days you just shut down, and you don’t want to talk about it, or you just like shut down and you don’t want it to enter your world.”
Kloots added that she’s become better at speaking up about how she’s feeling to those around her.
“How many times can I be like, ‘I’m just having a bad grief day?’ But I’ve gotten really good at just saying that, especially to my [The Talk] co-hosts,” she said.
In April, Kloots explained to PEOPLE why she’s “always trying to incorporate” her late husband into her son’s life “because he left this earth and Elvis was one.” Kloots added that Elvis “does not have memories of his dad.”
The Tell Me Your Dreams author went on to explain that there are times when Elvis has “gotten sad” when they talk about his father and he mentions that Cordero died.
“And then he’ll get very, very sad, which is heartbreaking as a parent, obviously. Because in a way, I haven’t had yet to deal too much with Elvis’ grief,” Kloots explained.
“It’s coming, and that’ll be a whole new layer for me and my grief and helping him get through that and understanding that,” she continued. “So that’s coming up for me. I know it’s not probably too long away.”
Kloots opened up to PEOPLE about what made Cordero a “very special man” shortly after his death.
“He was everyone’s friend. We taught each other things, challenging each other to grow. We loved to sing and dance wherever we were. Just looking at him doing the simplest things would bring a smile to my face,” Kloots said.
The fitness instructor also opened up about their marriage.
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“As a husband, I don’t think a day went by that he didn’t say to me, ‘I’m the luckiest,’ ” Kloots told PEOPLE in 2020. “Words can’t describe how much I will miss him, his presence, his voice. I’m heartbroken.”